Call
by Scriptress
Summary: Drew has made a habit of lying awake in bed at night, thinking of a brunette. When his phone rings at 3 am, he's given the opportunity to change what had gone wrong in recent years.


He lay awake against his pillow in the darkness of his hotel room in Lilycove City, his hands behind his head. He'd already given up on falling asleep, at least for a while. It didn't happen often, but on nights like this, his mind was too preoccupied to simply succumb to the numbness.

She was the main cause of his insomnia when he travelled. He would mostly think about the first and last times he'd seen her. And then remind himself of every time in between. He'd find himself smiling at all of their stupid inside jokes and how easily she would get frustrated with him. He chuckled. Hilarious. He'd think about how soft her skin was and how he wished he didn't _have_ to think about her. She should be next to him right now.

Where was she anyway?

He realized that he'd had no idea. They hadn't spoken in a while. It wasn't because of anything negative necessarily. One day, he'd picked up the phone to call her and then for some reason that was the last he'd heard of her. He didn't know why it happened, but it felt like too much of a time gap in between to just pick up another conversation.

He sighed softly and began to close his eyes. He had no idea what time it was, but he'd definitely been awake for a while. He tried again to forget her before remembering her again instantly the next morning.

_Ring._

His eyes snapped open, as the sudden noise startled him.

_Ring. Ring. _

It was his phone. His phone was ringing. Why would his phone be ringing.

The room was now dimly lit with the bluish glow of his cell and he reached over to grab it off of the night stand. He squinted at the bright screen to read the caller ID.

_May_.

What? He stared at the phone in disbelief. There was no way in hell.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," he whispered before answering it.

"Hey," he said softly into the phone.

"Hi," she said breathily into her end. He imagined her grasping her phone with two hands, holding the receiver close to her mouth.

There were a couple seconds of silence before May realized something.

"Oh my gosh, were you sleeping? Did I wake you up?"

He smirked. "No, I was still awake."

"What? Why? It's 3 am."

"Why are _you_ awake?" he asked her. He paused slightly. "Were you thinking about me?"

"What? What? No!" he smiled at how flustered she was getting. "No, why— why would i— no that's— no, i wasn't thinking about you, Drew."

"You sure? Because it's 3 am, apparently. "

"Uhh—"

"And you just called me."

"—Yeah."

"With no warning. Just completely out of the blue."

"…Yeah."

"But I definitely didn't cross your mind at all."

"… No."

"Well, that's a shame."

He could hear her move the receiver closer to her mouth and he waited for her to respond. "Why is that a shame?"

"Because I was thinking about you."

Her voice softened to a whisper. "You were?" She sounded so hopeful.

"Yeah, I was thinking about you _so hard_."

"Drew, stop being gross."

He chuckled lightly and rolled over onto his side. "I'm not being gross. I'm being serious."

"Well then, what were you thinking about?"

"Lots of things." He smirked. "Lots of May-related things."

"Oh wow," she mumbled into the receiver sarcastically. "No way."

"Yeah. Some were even Drew-related."

"Oh, what," she said. "Curveball."

"I know. Crazy."

There was a brief pause and he could practically hear her smile in the silence.

"How often were they both May- and Drew-related?" she asked him.

"Oh," he said. "Not too often."

"Oh."

"But still pretty often."

"Oh, okay."

"Maybe about 100% of the time."

She chuckled just loudly enough for Drew to hear her over the phone. "Okay, so the perfect amount."

He smiled. "Yeah, exactly."

Another short silence.

"Hey," he started. "Do you remember that Christmas when you wanted to bake cookies—"

May was already laughing.

"And I said, 'Don't, May,'" Drew continued. "'You'll probably burn the house down.'"

"And I almost did!" May interrupted between giggles.

Drew smiled. "And you almost did."

Her laughter died down a bit. "That was really funny. Well, I mean it wasn't funny at the time—"

"Yes it was."

"What?"

"It totally was."

"Drew, it definitely was not."

He scoffed. "Okay, then, what about the time—"

"I already know what you're going to say," May interrupted.

He wished with all of his heart and soul that she had been lying next to him at the moment she said that. He knew that she'd rolled her eyes at him, and he hadn't been able to see it.

"What was I going to say," he murmured into the receiver.

"You were thinking of that time when I tried jumping in that puddle—"

He started laughing. She _did_ know what he was going to say. "I told you not to!"

"Even though you told me not to, but I did it anyway and it was a lot deeper than I expected it to be—"

Drew let his hand that held the phone fall to the bed for a couple of seconds, throwing his head back against the pillow in laughter at the memory. He'd had to physically pull her out of the hole, and she'd had to borrow a pair of his pants for the rest of the evening. He definitely was not her size. He held the phone up to his ear, still chuckling.

"—your stupid sweatpants! And they didn't even _fit_ me—"

He let his hand flop to the bed again as he clutched his sides, trying to laugh quietly. She had been _so upset_ about that, like she expected them to share the same wardrobe. It was adorable. Ever since then, she'd forced him to keep some of her clothes at his apartment.

When he brought the phone back to his ear, he heard remnants of his name.

"—rew? Hello?"

He chuckled lightly. "Yeah, I'm here."

May paused to calculate the tone of his voice. "… Were you laughing at me?"

"May, you know that story kills me every time."

"Yeah, I know," she answered, sounding exasperated. "You always start to tell people about it at parties, but then laugh too hard and make me finish it."

"It's_ hilarious.__"_

He listened to her sigh in response. A couple of seconds passed before he spoke again.

"…We haven't been to a party together in a while," he said softly.

"Yeah," she replied just as quietly. "I was just thinking about that."

Their conversation had noticeably quieted down and he could once again hear the silence in the room.

"Where are you right now?" he asked her.

"Oh." He heard rustling over the phone and assumed that she was shifting her position on her bed. "I'm in some hotel in Lilycove. The Grand- something."

His heart skipped a beat. _"_Yeah?"

"Yeah, I'll be here for a bit." Should he really go try to find her?

"Contest?"

"Yeah." He was already calculating the fastest way there.

He was in a rival hotel at that moment, but could definitely make it to hers before she fell asleep if he kept her on the phone long enough. But he'd have to leave pretty soon. It would be about a ten minute walk from where he was.

"Drew?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

She giggled. "Did you hear my question at all?"

He smiled at the sound of her laugh, then flicked on the light in his hotel room and winced.

"No, what was it?"

"I asked where _you_ were."

He glanced around the room to see if any of his things were lying on dressers or night stands.

"Uh, I'm actually in Slateport right now," he lied.

He grabbed his duffle bag lying on the floor and grabbed a new pair of pants before shoving various items into it, his phone pressed between his ear and shoulder.

"What? You're not home?"

"Nope." He pulled on the zipper of the duffle bag to close it.

"Well, why are you in Slateport? Are you going somewhere?"

Drew sat on the edge of the bed and began pulling on his pants. "I thought it was time for a change of pace. You know me. Always changing. Always trying new things."

"Drew, you wore the same shirt for the first three years that we've known each other—"

He walked to the bathroom and grabbed his soap and toothbrush. "You know. Always switching things up. Just… classic. Classic Drew."

He looked in the mirror at himself and ran his hand through his hair as he listened to her explanation about how he was the exact opposite of what he had described. It was long enough for him to gather the rest of his things and turn off the light to the room, quietly shutting the door behind him.

He gripped his bag as he walked down the eternally lit hallway in the direction of the lobby and continued to listen to May speak.

"— and what about that old movie you refuse to watch the remake of? What was it called again? The Night of the— The Attack on—"

He rolled his eyes as he listened to her struggle to remember. How many times had they watched that movie together? It was a classic and should not be modernized. The least she could do is remember its name.

"It's called The Attack of the—" he tried to correct her.

"It doesn't matter."

Drew ran his palm down his face in complete aggravation. He loved May. He really did. He would give her the world if he could. But sometimes…

"The point is," she continued, as he contemplated unpacking his duffle bag and going back to bed, "you kind of really hate change."

He'd reached the lobby of the hotel and answered a quick "Are you sure?" to fuel her fire long enough for him to check out. Drew approached the large mahogany desk in the center of the well lit lobby and resisted the urge to fall asleep in any of the many empty armchairs.

After muting his phone, he handed the concierge his room key and credit card.

"Leaving already?" The man behind the desk said, typing into the computer.

"Yeah, there's something I have to go do." He readjusted the duffle bag on his shoulder and smiled.

The man smiled back and returned the items. "Good luck."

Drew pocketed his card and held the phone back up to his ear, grabbing a map of the city on his way out just in case.

"—And I actually think that's really sweet," he heard May say softly, as he left the hotel.

What? What was she talking about? What had he missed?

"What's so sweet about it?" he asked calmly, trying to get her to relay as much information as possible.

He heard her make a faint, breathy laugh. "I don't know. It's just nice to know that you think about me sometimes."

_Oh. _"Really?"

The night was dark, but thankfully the city was well-lit. He looked both ways before crossing the street by force of habit, although the roads were empty. He watched his feet as he stepped back onto the sidewalk.

May hummed an affirmative before continuing. "Also, I have a secret to tell you."

There was something eerie about being the only one walking around at night, but May certainly served to keep him company. He raised his eyebrows at her statement and smirked. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," she said so breathily that he had to physically stop walking.

Did she _have_ to say it like that? She probably didn't even mean to, but she immediately brought heat to his face. It was bad enough that May's voice was dangerously close to his ear, but hearing her speak like _that_ was crippling. She truly had no idea what she did to him.

Drew sighed and continued walking. "Is it something I already know?"

She scoffed. "You know close to nothing about me."

He didn't even need to retort for her to retract her statement.

"Okay, you know like 99% of everything about me. But you definitely don't know this."

Drew switched the phone to his other ear and peered at the town map as he walked. He was to turn left at the next block and continue from there. "Are you positive?"

"Yeah."

He folded the map and stuck it in his pocket. "Alright, Maple. Lay it on me."

He could hear the springs of her bed groaning as she readjusted her position again.

"Okay," she said. "I lied to you earlier."

He frowned. "How much earlier?"

"Like half an hour ago."

"About what?"

"About why I was awake when I called you."

Drew made the left turn. "So what were you really doing at 3 am?"

There was a slight pause before her soft voice admitted: "Wondering what you were doing at 3 am."

He felt the words resonate within him before he spoke. "So, Drew-related things?"

She laughed lightly. "And May-related things."

"Example."

"Like…" she paused to think. "Like when we were traveling together. And then there was that time when it was my birthday, but I had bad cell phone reception. Do you remember that?"

Drew chuckled lightly as he passed yet another street lamp. He could see the front doors of her hotel. "Yeah."

On that particular day, they had been camping in the mountains and were unable to get any reception at all, which totally devastated May because she was unable to receive any calls. So Drew, as a party of one, decided to sing happy birthday to her. He'd actually almost forgotten that it had happened; it was so long ago.

"I think that was my favorite birthday."

"No way," Drew said quietly. He had no idea it meant that much to her.

"Way," she confirmed.

The closer he got to the building, the harder his heart pounded. Every step he took was a step in the direction of utter happiness.

"Drew?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you do this a lot?" she questioned. "Think about me?"

He started to answer when she revised her question.

"I mean at like three in the morning. Is this normal for you?"

He retrieved a hand from his pocket and ran it through his hair. "Yeah, kind of."

May was silent before stating, "Me, too."

Those two words hit him like a train. Did that mean that whenever he was lying awake in bed, May was awake in some other part of the world doing the same thing? The idea was almost too foreign to comprehend.

Seconds ticked by before Drew had heard anything at all from her line.

"You there?" he asked.

"Yeah," she sniffled.

Sniffled? His heart sank. Was she crying?

"Are you okay?" he said, a bit worried.

She cleared her throat slightly. "Yeah, it's just—"

He waited impatiently for her to finish her sentence. She didn't.

"May?" he asked, taking the phone from his face to see if the call had been dropped. It hadn't been. He pressed it back to his ear and spoke again. "May?"

He heard a sharp intake of breath and a shaky exhale. "I'm going to have to call you back, okay?"

"Wait, no—"

But the line was dead.

He brought hand to his forehead, his eyes wide with worry. What was going on?

Drew started to run, but stopped, as the sight of a man sprinting down the street in the middle of the night with a duffle bag seemed like it would be suspicious.

He instead tried to distract himself and stared at the front doors of the hotel. It seemed safe, but what if she was in danger?

Nope. No. Distracting. Walking. Not thinking. Breathing.

Walking. Breathing.

Walk. Breathe.

He vividly remembered the sound of May's gasp, and he started sprinting. He reached the end of the sidewalk and crossed the street without looking both ways.

He opened the door to the hotel and tried to walk calmly to the concierge desk.

"Hey, um." Drew stated, trying to sound as if he had not just been doing physical exercise. "I need to find my wife, May Maple." They were definitely not married, but he hoped that a relation as serious as that would be convincing. "My flight just landed, and I didn't have time to catch our room number. I realize this is probably against policy, but I think she might be in danger, so—"

"Okay, sir," the concierge interjected. "Can I see your ID?"

"Yeah," Drew said, catching his breath. He started to dig his wallet out when the man at the desk stopped him.

"Oh, hold on," the man said, holding up a green sticky note. "Are you Mr. Drew Hayden?"

Drew froze, wallet halfway out of his pocket, furrowing his brows.

"Yes," he confirmed skeptically.

"Oh, well it seems that she's expecting her husband and has requested your entry."

Drew's mind went blank as he tried to process what he had just been told. Husband? What? They hadn't agreed on any of this in the slightest. How—

"Hi, Drew," came May's voice from behind him.

He let his wallet fall back into his pocket and turned around. There she was, standing behind him by the sofas in the hotel lobby wearing a T-shirt and other things. Her hair was there and she was probably smiling. He was suddenly standing directly in front of her, a hand cupping her face. He did not know when that had happened, or when he had dropped his duffle bag, but knew that he was searching for her lips. He knew that he had found them when whatever she'd been saying was cut off abruptly. He knew he'd waited far too long for this moment.

Drew let their lips part from each other and opened his eyes, watching her fully come into focus. He was still slightly taller than she was, so he had to peer down into her face. Her eyes were still closed, her cheeks lightly flushed. He watched her purse her lips as if cherishing what he had just done. He watched them move as she talked to him. He didn't remember being as fascinated by anything else in his entire life.

"You didn't do that to convince that man that we were really married, did you?" she murmured mesmorizingly quickly.

"No," he whispered.

"Good—" she said, eyes still closed.

He somehow managed to cut her off despite her having said only one word. She smiled against his lips, and he felt her arms fall around his neck.

"Wait," May said suddenly, pulling back.

That was the absolute last thing he'd wanted to do at that moment, but he did.

She smiled, arms still around his neck. "We should probably leave the lobby."

He retracted his arm that had circled around her lower back and removed his hand from her cheek. "You're right."

He took his duffle bag in one hand, her hand in the other and allowed her to walk him down the hallway. Her hands felt dainty and just as graceful as everything else about her.

"May," he started.

"Yeah?" she answered just as breathily as before.

He clenched his jaw and glanced in her direction to see that she was smirking at him. She knew _exactly_ what she was doing. He ignored her reaction entirely and continued speaking.

"When did you— How did you know—"

"Oh," she said, interrupting. They rounded a corner, and approached the elevator. "I saw you walking to the hotel from my balcony." She turned to look at him. "So I contacted the front desk."

He should have known that his hair made him stand out like a sore thumb.

"Okay," Drew said. "But why did you tell them that I was your husband?"

May pressed the button for the elevator and shrugged. "I just thought that if we were married, whatever story you fed them would be more convincing."

Drew simply stared at her, causing her to stare back.

She smiled softly up at him. "What?"

"I missed you."

His words hung in the air slightly before the elevator chimed and the doors opened.

May squeezed his hand. "I missed you, too."

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><p><strong>Please review and let me know how I did!<strong>

**xx**


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